Spoiler Alert: You Do Not Exist

I would like to start this article gently, but the truth is. No matter how I put this, it will seem odd. No matter how I say this, it will rub someone up the wrong way. No matter how delicately I handle this it, will challenge the foundations of your entire life.

If moving towards the truth is not what you want. If breaking free of the ties that have bound your life. If a rejection of the very reason you are here now, searching for freedom is not what you are after, stop reading now.

I’ll assume whoever is left only wants one thing: the cold and ruthless truth. Now to dispense with the pleasantries…

You do not exist.

What? How? Why?

I could explain logically that for self to exist it must be outside of reality-manipulating reality, and that anything outside of reality is unreal.

I could tell you that all you have ever had of your self is your thoughts about it. Just as your thoughts about unicorns do not mean unicorns are real, your thoughts about yourself are nothing more than thoughts.

We could delve into the many linguistic errors in this piece and ask “if you don’t exist why do you use the word ‘I’ so much”. I know, as you now know, that use of a word does not prove the existence of its namesake. We must simply do our best with the limited “selfish” language we were given.

I do not expect you to believe me

In fact I don’t want belief. I want you to discover it for yourself that you have no self (clever, eh?).

I’d like to offer that all we really know for sure is what we are experiencing right now. Memory is fallible, the past and future never come or go. All we can know is our direct experience of what is in the present moment.

With that in mind, I want you to pay direct attention to your experience of life right now.

Take a look at this self, which thinks your thoughts and moves your body. If it truly thinks your thoughts then it must exist apart from those thoughts. Pay attention to your experience; do you experience this self outside of thought?

Sure you have thoughts about the self, but look at experience, do those thoughts come from a self?

More importantly what are each of those thoughts DOING ? Are they trying to convince that there is a self?

I resisted this at first too..

The first thing I thought when I tried this was “Of course there is a self, this is stupid.” However as I watched, I realized that all my thoughts were about a self, but there was no self thinking up the thoughts. I began to rationalize that I must be the brain because the brain thinks up the thoughts, but it hit me hard between the eyes. I don’t experience the brain thinking up thoughts. I just experience thoughts arising conditioned by experience. It wasn’t my experience, I wasn’t there thinking the thoughts. There was only experience conditioned thoughts.

Sure there was a body and a mind, but the driver seat was empty. Life was automatic. As I looked around the room I sat in, the haze began to lift. My entire world fell apart. Only, it wasn’t my world and had never been. My whole life made sense, because it was never truly my life.

How has this affected me?

It’s an intense and real freedom, this liberation from erroneous assumption of self. From the time from the thought first entered my head, till my taking a look at the experience of life in that moment was roughly 7 minutes.

In mid September 2010 I saw life for what it is. It’s changed me for the better since. I can see clearly now. I tend not to get caught in emotional feedback loops and the idea of self. I still have it I just see that I have it, and see it for what it is.

Since I got this I’ve dedicated my life to bringing this to other people. I’ve been taking a little break but over the first 6 months I liberated 13 people . I have many friends who also pledged themselves to free this world. It’s hasn’t been easy there have been many ups and downs. We’ve stared into the abyss together and watched the brightest of stars fall from grace. What we do now we do with eyes open, and what we do is open eyes.

All it took was 7 minutes. I’ve seen people do it in 3. All you need to do is to pay attention to your experience of life. Just look.

I work at Ruthless Truth where we liberate people from the lie of self allowing them to embrace life fully and see clearly for what may be the first time. I also run a blog where I focus my efforts on bringing liberation to the public by any means necessary.

Another sorta related thing, we consider our bodies (and every other thing) solid things, when really atoms are made up of 99.999999999999% empty space (twelve nines after the decimal point). That means even the solidest things are at least that percent empty, so pretty much nothing

@Ramo, I don’t think the conclusion is tricky. Liberation is inherently what I experienced when I came to this realization and temporarily witnessed the death of my ego, or illusion of my “personal self in the psyche.” I reveled in the fact that everything living was equally all and equally none, and from there I was free from a conditioned restriction that was my self, losing all boundaries between the self and environment.

if we do not exist then where do these thoughts come from? what is the force behind them? even if you accept and understand that you do not exist, you are still thinking and that is still something. do you mean that everything is one and not separate?

Nicely said, and very true. I could indeed explain it but it is nothing like the actual experience, which by the way, every person has the ability to attain.

This concept is much like nirvana (enlightenment) in Buddhism or moksha in Hinduism. Perhaps this wikipedia article on ego death can clarify: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ego_death. You should look into The Doors of Perception and other works by Aldous Huxley who discusses exactly this. Other notable psychonauts who surrounded their works around this very concept include Ram Dass, Jack Kerouac, Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey, Terence McKenna, etc. Do some research, dig deep, and there will be nothing left to do but to continue exploring the depths of your mind.

Anyways. describing enlightenment as a concept is a clear misunderstanding of the point of it. (or irresponsible use of language, something i’m pretty constantly guilty of) Its the absence of concept. or rather. the absence of investment/trust/whatever in concept. the core and most elaborate conceptual construct being the idea of self. which is basically the fundamental foundation of delusion.

This article, this post. this discussion, is the recognition of that concept as nothing more than a concept. and as a result, freedom.

@Kauri If you were to make a realistic proportional model of an atom that is visible There would be a mile of empty space between each proton or neutron in the nucleus. Just the nucleus! It’s amazing how crazy the world is.

Stephen, could you explain more? I am still unsure of what you are perceiving.

I came to this conclusion when I was 15, reading Sophie’s World. It gives a realization that we can all be mere imagined characters in someone’s book. It is true that one of the scariest parts of being is that sometimes we cannot even control our own mind. We can tame or redirect our thoughts (which, very often, results in psychological problems), but there is no magic way of stopping the emergence of random thoughts. But what is interesting is continuously trying to answer the question: who is the actual author?

I am absolutely dumbfounded by the response to this article here. The honesty and courage in you people is amazing, the idea that maybe you never existed is not an easy one to examine, but for the most part you guys have courageously thrown all self centeredness to the wind and actually engaged to try work out the truth for yourselves. That alone is amazing. It’s all it takes to find the truth of existence, courage and honesty. Your sword and shield.

@Tormod Amazing. Just think about that sentence for a second: Life is only electrical signals in the brain. How is it possible that little pulses of electricity in tissue can create thoughts. It’s no wonder we, as humans, still know nothing about the human brain. Think of the very concept of thought. I’m basically sensing the physical world in which I live (or in which I think I live) and my brain is creating thoughts in response to that stimuli. But… thoughts? Thoughts are just electrical impulses… How? Language, images, how is all of this even possible. Is this world that I perceive “real?” Have I merely created this entire world in my own thoughts. My God… what am I?

Skip the existential crisis and get to the end. look deeply into your thoughts about yourself and examine them, without emotion and avoiding conceptualisation. challenge what this “I” thing is that you speak of when you say “this world in which i live” the “I” thing that you refer to when you say “I perceive”.

I get the impression that you have it a little backwards, there’s no point to challenge the existence of the world just now. not till you know the nature of that i thing you speak of. I can tell you its not there, but its for naught if you dont check it out for yourself.

Well i found out who God/ Devil. Experience is what makes you become you and MAKES YOU so depending on what you do with that experience turns you into its reality which we call God does that make sense

Hey, here’s something that might make you upset: I AM. I am conscious of my thoughts. I think them. I control my hands, my feet, my mouth. I feel my skin. I experience joy and sadness and anger (though I’ve learned to curb the anger much more easily through meditation and just smiling). If I am nothing else, I am emotions. I am the soul and the sole inhabitant of the body where I live. You can’t leave your body, can you? You are your body, and soul. You exist.

Why are people obsessed with self. As my thoughts were trying to decypher. Crap, as I type this self is coming back into play. Why is it so hard for these thoughts to stray away from self when I can clearly see that I am just being. I find it more relaxing and euphoric to say things like “how do thoughts” instead of “how can I change thoughts”, but the more thoughts that come to be the more they produce a feeling that I exist. The weird and cool part is that this body is starting to dislike the thoughts of self. Why is something so true so hard for the mind to perceive? By the way school is tomorrow and it would be great to read some responses while “being” :P there.

“The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a “self” which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call “self” is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.”

Well, I find it comforting that my past, memories, thoughts allow me to learn and evolve more and more every day. I don’t agree nor disagree. I respectfully refuse me to live my life based on this philosophy. I’ve found that I enjoy me and self with all this complexity, negativity and positivity. I don’t yearn for careless life, to be a zen master of self. I enjoy every having to deal with setbacks every once in a while. Makes me enjoy the good times even more. :-)

“Take a look at this self, which thinks your thoughts and moves your body. If it truly thinks your thoughts then it must exist apart from those thoughts. Pay attention to your experience; do you experience this self outside of thought?”

This seems to be the crux of his argument. If this is not true, then my whole point may be off base buuuttttt……

The answer to this question (“do you experience this self outside of thought?”) is yes. All of our sensory input, confirms our existence, outside of our own thoughts. If you don’t exist, you wouldn’t be able to feel the chair your sitting in, listen to the music coming from your computer, or even see the screen.

Basically all, stephen is doing is manipulating the definition of self.

“The answer to this question (“do you experience this self outside of thought?”) is yes.” No. There is experience outside thought. What makes it yours?? YOu have a concepts of self and ownership and apply it to thought. It’s not your thought just thought,

Look at this sentence, you assume a self without proving it in the first place.

All “OUR” sensory input….. You claim there is an US a set of selves but don’t prove it……. not good enough… weak in fact,

“If you don’t exist, you wouldn’t be able to feel the chair your sitting in, listen to the music coming from your computer, or even see the screen.”

Your saying here “If you don’t exist then how come you experience chairs…. You don’t experience chairs genius. There is the experience of chairs, and you stick the tag of self on ad call it “your” experience…

What you are saying is “If self doesn’t exist then how come I tell myself it exists”

The only answer to that question is that… your an idiot.

“Basically all, stephen is doing is manipulating the definition of self.”

Basically all this guy is doing is dodging the question trying to prove himself right. Why?

Because firstly he believes he exists and that his self is better than anyone elses self……. Deluded.

Worse, he’s likely to react here by saying somehing along the lines of

“Stephen was mean to me and because he was mean I don’t need to take his claim seriously.”

Why would he avoid taking this seriously?

To prove that the idea in his head that “he exists” is true, and not only does he exist but he is AMAZINGLY IMPORTANT.

Fact is, he’s in love with delusion.

He will do everything in his power to prove that he exists and is a better “self” thank I am.

He will appeal to ego. He will try rake the higher ground.

Bottom line, he will try to win !!!!!! hE NEEDS TO WON, TO BE IMPORTANT.

Point out my use of the english language and say that proves a self.

Make ridiculous claims and try pass them off as obvious.

Basically, you guys get to observe a deluded brain, try to beat all opposition and prove a point DUE TO THE FACT that it thinks there is a self, that must beat all other selves.

The vehemence with which you assert that Cameron’s belief is both wrong and falsely formed without proof, all the while offering no actual proof that your own belief is correct, suggests you are struggling to assert your “self” over his.

Hypocritical…especially coming from the enlightened author. Having abandoned his self, you would expect the author to be more understanding since he had already accepted that his experiences and consequential thoughts/responses were not his own to begin with…is Cameron not operating with the same experiences/thoughts/responses that the author is? If that is the case, can the author claim to have really accepted he does not exist if he feels the need to assert his belief over Cameron’s belief, all the while maintaining that everyone is governed by the same experiences/thoughts/responses that constitute this constructed reality we all simultaneously exist in? No. By virtue of protesting in anger and insult rather than acceptance and guidance he has shown an attachment to self. What a pickle!

The shock-and-awe voice is part of their method, Stephen isn’t pissed at anyone. The RT crew are trying to wake people up to the idea that “yourself” is a figment of your imagination. They are way better at explaining it than I am so go read the site.

Shock and awe is accurate, hahaha. I didn’t necessarily assume he was pissed at anyone it just seemed, as mentioned, there was a lot assertion of self going on there from someone advocating transcending self. I guess “rattling the cage” is one method. Some people do need to be challenged/confronted to get the wheels turning.

The school of thought that I subscribe to after taking some of my own journies is usually referred to as above: transcending self. Some association to self is unavoidable…if only to be present in the physical realm when dealing with others. This also addresses the limits of language when needing to communicate effectively. Admitting to some association to self while acknowleding that self is meaningless and simply an ego driven construct may seem like a cop out to someone who subscribes to “does not exist, period”, but I tend to reject absolutes on principle anyhow. Energy flows…it doesn’t stop or start.

i understand a little better. i took it too literally at first. our bodys react to stimulus constantly and that in turn generates thoughts based on the situations in our life. what we think of as self is just a response to our bodys reacting to the brain functioning and stimulating itself. am i on the right track?

one of the things I learned reading armchair physics that has really left an impression is the interconnectedness of the universe. it’s incredible to me that from some universal energy field beings developed with egos that can think “I’m an individual!”. we’re no more real than a photon that blinks in and out of existence in a nanosecond or less – just with a longer life and a lot more self-delusion. it really is liberating.

Within the narrow construct of the human race it really looks like we’re all individuals and we each have an identity.

But in the expanse of everything we are inseparable from the whole of the universe.

Look at it any way you like, as long as you’re actually looking with your eyes open and you wont see an I in any way. But thats the thing, opening eyes and looking is easy as all hell but feels like it must be really hard, thats why we make excuses like “its complicated” or “it doesn’t feel right”. Trying to rationalise what is right in front of your face (or in this case isn’t) away, doesn’t make it go away.

All these opinions from selves that don’t even exist! I would be amused by it all if I actually existed.

I guess “I think, therefore I am” isn’t good enough anymore. What is “think”? What is “am”?

No, I can’t prove there is a self thinking these thoughts, anymore than the writer of this piece can prove there is not. But if there is not, why bother trying to “free” others? What’s the point? All of this philosophizing comes from a mechanistic view of reality. My thoughts are simple reactions. Very Newtonian. How about quantum physics? The notion that reality is affected by the observer?

if I put aside this illusion that is an idea of my self, then there are no boundaries between me and my environment. not to say that I can’t formulate thoughts and express them, but I do not own them and I did not think them up on my own, for there are greater forces than we realize. the boundary you create on your body is this idea of a self that acts as an anchor. if the self is removed, there are no boundaries. I’m one with the universe just as we are one with each other, then I’m no different than you and you are no different than me. we just are. in turn, we are here for each other, naturally.

while you can see this as pointless philosophizing, it’s simply just a different way of thinking, a different way of seeing and treating our loved ones for who they are … and in turn, a different way of living, and only in the best of ways, for this is the liberation we speak of. why bother thinking about this? well, why not contemplate the nature of being? to figure out that there’s nothing inward as much as there is outward? to find out that we take the form of emptiness? a common misunderstanding is that these are negative things. in reality, they are the key to liberation, contentedness, happiness, and above all, truth.

I’m all for comptemplating the nature of reality. Have been ever since I was 13 or 14 and fully believed that the religion I’d been taught for 8 years was not The Truth. I think too many people get caught up in material existence and don’t even think, Why are we here? But coming to the conclusion that there is no self is kind of a copout. I know: Self-ishness and greed have been the cause of so much pain in this world. But that doesn’t invalidate the joy of being an individual, of being unique and aware of your individuality. Asserting your Self doesn’t necessarily lead to a horrible existence for others. I think this belief is what has lead to this thinking that there is no self.

That said, I do believe we are all connected and that at some level there is no real division between the individual and everything else.

i’ve come to the conclusion that the self is still there because everyone is really individual. i think the concept at hand is true though also. i’m still pondering what exactly i mean by that so if anyone gets what i’m saying then help me out here! either way i’ll be back with a more in depth response (i think about this concept throughout the day now)

Its pretty simple, in really weird terms its like there are 2 you’s. the real one, which isn’t a you or a self or anything. physical body, unconditioned brain. all that jazz. the other one, the fictional one, is the one that claims all those things as their own. Here. i’ll use your own words.

“I’ve come to a conclusion” Its not your conclusion. its just a conclusion. “I think the concept at hand is true” You didn’t think it, its just a thought. One that came up as any other does in response to the things around you, observed through a filter of past experiences. “I’m still pondering” Right now, no you’re not, its just pondering happening. “I mean” Its not your meaning, its just meaning. (though that one is particularly subjective according to the ideas in that head on those shoulders) “i’ll be back” hasta la vista baby.

The thing is, its not a concept, its not some new idea to add to a pile of other ideas. its the initial position of ideas. or rather, the lack of one. one thought flows into the other into experience and then out again. There doesn’t need to be an individual for there to be individuality. the mind and experiences are different in every one of us. in the same way that the the atoms that make you up now are different to the ones that made you up 10 years ago, you are different from someone else. not through some separate self controling entitiy running your life, but through different stuff happening in… well… life. Just look for yourself though. its pointless till you sit down and check it out for yourself. talking about it gets you nowhere. just sit down and look at it. There is no you, so what is a self? where did it come from? is there anything to it other than the thoughts about it?

Well i found out who God/ Devil. Experience is what makes you become you and MAKES YOU so depending on what you do with that experience turns you into its reality which we call God so what do you think of that